The phone at Dale Yeager's Pennsylvania firm has been ringing off the hook in recent weeks, thanks to a trio named Ivan, Frances and Charley.

The hurricanes, which swept through in a month, have led businesses to seek out Yeager's expertise in corporate emergency preparedness analysis and training. In the last two weeks, his firm, King of Prussia, Pa.-based Seraph.net, signed 40 new clients. Typically, he signs two in that period.

It's a scene being played out at many businesses after Ivan, Frances and Charley wreaked their destruction — and Hurricane Jeanne joined in over the weekend, battering Florida with 120 mph wind and heavy rain.

Although natural disasters spread destruction and economic pain to a wide variety of businesses, for some, it can mean a burst in activity and revenue.

For that reason, economists tallying the numbers expect the hurricanes will be neutral in their effect on the U.S. economy, or may even give it a slight boost, particularly because of an expected reconstruction boom in the already red-hot construction industry.

"It's a perverse thing ... there's real pain," says Steve Cochrane, director of regional economics at Economy.com, a consulting firm in West Chester, Pa. "But from an economic point of view, it is a plus."

Cochrane estimates that in Florida, the state hit hardest by the storms, 20,000 jobs will be created that otherwise would not have been. Two-thirds of those jobs will be in construction. The rest will be in areas including utilities, retailing, insurance and business services. Another 2,500 jobs will likely be added in Mobile, Ala., according to Economy.com.

Economic consulting firm Global Insight estimates the hurricanes at most will shave two-tenths of a percentage point off gross domestic product, the broadest gauge of U.S. economic activity, in the third or fourth quarters. That will be offset by reconstruction activity.

"Generally ... you have a short-term loss in productive activity. ... Then maybe a quarter or so later you get a very significant surge in construction activity," says Phil Hopkins, an economist at Global Insight.

For some, the positive impacts are seen almost immediately. Yeager is about to set out on a 12-day trip jammed with appointments. "Ivan really scared the living daylights out of people," he says.

Others — many outside the construction industry — are seeing similar results:

• In Weirton, W.Va., Paul Lauttamus has cleared out his inventory of emergency communications devices, such as walkie-talkies and pagers, that he sells to fire and police departments, individuals and businesses. He saw business spike at Lauttamus Communications before Hurricane Ivan came through the eastern USA and again after, when departments needed to replace their water-soaked communications devices.

• Amy Palmer, CEO of Cappy's Keys in Altamonte Springs, Fla., saw business jump at her locksmith business when the first hurricane, Charley, came through. Firms that repossess cars were having an easier time locating the vehicles because owners were hunkering down at home in preparation for the storm. She's brought in to make car keys, so the more cars repossessed, the more business she has.

• Sales of bottled water and juice at Ensemble Beverage in Montgomery, Ala., quadrupled in the week before Ivan hit, President James Harris says.

• Robert Bradford, CEO of Center for Simplified Strategic Planning in Vero Beach, Fla., has seen an increase in inquiries from potential clients at his consulting firm. Incidents like hurricanes lead firms, particularly those that are directly affected, to rethink their business plans.

There is one hitch when it comes to forecasting the impact of the most recent hurricanes. When Hurricane Andrew hit in August 1992, most homeowners had insurance policies with a flat deductible, say of $1,000.

Since then, many insurance policies have changed so that deductibles are a percentage of the estimated value of the home. So if someone owns a $200,000 home and the deductible is 5%, that person could end up paying $10,000. That may force some homeowners to take out loans just to pay the deductibles and perhaps to cut back on other spending, which could hurt local businesses unrelated to reconstruction efforts.

"It's going to crimp their cash flow," says John Robertson, senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, which oversees the economies in the Southeast. "You may see ... people diverting money away from other purposes."

Working in the opposite direction, the federal government has pledged aid to affected areas. And in an election year, the dollars may flow faster than usual.